Characteristics of vegetation succession on the Pinus thunbergii forests in warm temperate regions, Jeju Island, South Korea

Abstract

Background: To investigate the trends of succession occurring at the Pinus thunbergii forests on the lowlands of Jeju Island, we quantified the species compositions and the importance values by vegetation layers of Braun-Blanquet method on the Pinus thunbergii forests. We used multivariate analysis technique to know the correlations between the vegetation group types and the location environmental factors; we used the location environment factors such as altitudes above sea level, tidal winds (distance from the coast), annual average temperatures, and forest gaps to know the vegetation distribution patterns. Results: According to the results on the lowland of Jeju Island, the understory vegetation of the lowland Pinus thunbergii forests was dominated by tall evergreen broad-leaved trees such as Machilus thunbergii, Neolitsea sericea, and Cinnamomum japonicum showing a vegetation group structure of the mid-succession, and the distribution patterns of vegetation were determined by the altitudes above sea level, the tidal winds on the distance from the coast, the annual average temperatures, and the forest gaps. We could discriminate the secondary succession characteristics of the Pinus thunbergii forests on the lowland and highland of Jeju Island of South Korea. Conclusions:In the lowland of Jeju Island, the secondary succession will progress to the form of Pinus thunbergii (early successional species)→Machilus thunbergii, Litsea japonica (mid-successional species)→Machilus thunbergii (late-successional species) sequence in the temperate areas with strong tidal winds. In the highland of Jeju Island, the succession will progress to the form of Pinus thunbergii (early successional species)→Neolitsea sericea, Eurya japonica (mid-successional species)→Castanopsis sieboldii (late-successional species) sequence in the areas where tidal winds are weak and temperatures are relatively low. However, local differences between lowland and highland of Jeju Island will be caused by the micro-environmental factors resulting from the topographic differences and the supply of tree seeds. From the characteristics of succession study, we could properly predict and manage the Pinus thunbergii forest ecosystem on lowland and highland of Jeju Island.

Successive processes at quarry waste dumps of various ages

“…The spontaneous succession of plant communities in quarries with different substrates has been studied in sufficient detail. Most studies have focused on various aspects of vegetation succession (Garófano-Gómez et al 2017;Hong et al 2019), and soil formation processes have been analysed in some detail (Egli et al 2018). However, comprehensive observations of soil and vegetation rehabilitation and connectivity of these components are rare.…”

“…It is known that the restoration of most quarries is generally slow, and large areas often remain empty after decades of abandonment (Krüger et al 2017). The main factors limiting plant communities in abandoned quarries are low nutrient availability and unfavourable soil physical properties (Hong et al 2019). The absence of soil is what defines the first stage of primary succession.…”

Vegetation structure and distribution characteristics of Symplocos prunifolia, a rare evergreen broad-leaved tree in Korea

“…Among the native vegetation, it appears in fewer numbers than other species in the tree layer (Castanopsis sieboldii, Quercus Miyawaki et al (1994), Tang (2015) and this study acuta, Pinus thunbergii, Carpinus laxiflora, etc. ), and its growth is relatively slow, which is disadvantageous to competition (Hong et al 2019). In particular, even in the vegetation succession process, it is difficult to secure the stability of the population because S. prunifolia seedlings have relatively weak shade tolerance in the evergreen broad-leaved forest at the late seral stage have poor regeneration (Oh and Choi 1993).…”

The structure of forest vegetation on industrial landfills of different ages

“…The acceleration of soil formation in quarry dumps can be possible due to the creation of tree and shrub plantations, as well as grass vegetation. These structures can ensure the optimal water regime in soils and a balanced ratio of nutrients (Garófano‐Gómez et al, 2017; Halecki & Klatka, 2021; Hong et al, 2019; Krüger et al, 2017; Lugo, 2020). The negative influence of soil erosion on forest vegetation occurs in conditions of extreme pH values.…”